Bourbon for Christmas

I am just getting into bourbon, but my brother-in-law is a long time connoisseur. We are heading to the west coast to visit him for Christmas and would like to do our own small tasting and also get him a nice bottle of bourbon as a present. Anyone have any suggestions as to what I should get for the tasting (3 or 4) and what I should give as a gift? I値l be shopping in New Orleans, where I assume I値l be able to find pretty much everything. So the basic question is: if this were a gift for you, what would you want? Thanks.

The prices I listed are approximate and all 750ml sizes. In my opinion they are all reasonably priced and will not set you back a whole bunch as many others would. I can think of so many other bourbons to bring for a tasting but they would be around $40 a bottle so if you want great reasonably priced bourbons with a wide array of tasting notes you shouldn't go wrong with these...

As for the gift I really like A. H. Hirsch 16 yr (I've seen it for anywhere from $57-80) or even a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve 20 Yr would be nice (around $75-85). They are both phenomenal bourbons and not overly-priced like Distillers Masterpiece for example...

I am sure everyone here will have different opinions which is a good thing but I hope this opens up some ideas...

Re: Bourbon for Christmas

Well Sis, if you've been reading anything at all on this forum you would know that the two bourbons creating the most stir right now are Old Forester Birthday Bourbon and George T. Stagg. You should be able to get them in New Orleans. Two of the most highly rated bourbons on this forum are Wild Turkey's Kentucky Spirit and Buffalo Trace's Rock Hill Farms. Buy all four and make your tasting the present. Send me the address as I'd like to attend.

Re: Bourbon for Christmas

Paradox's reply is a good one, although the Elijah Craig 12 year-old provokes strong reactions both good and bad. (I eventually learned to like it, but be aware that it's considerably outside the mainstream of bourbon flavors.)

Do you have any intelligence operatives who could check out the brother-in-law's current collection? If it turns out that he already has, let's say Wild Turkey 101 and Wild Turkey Russell's Reserve, then Wild Turkey Rare Breed (about $30) or Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit (about $40-45, and a favorite of many of us in this forum) would probably be a welcome gift.

Conversely, if there isn't a drop of Wild Turkey in the house, then he has probably found that its taste (which bears a family resemblance among the bottlings cited) is just not to his liking.

BTW, especially during the Holiday season it's often possible to find specially packaged gift sets that include a pair of glasses that bear the product logo. I recently bought myself such a "gift" of Wild Turkey Rare Breed.

Re: Bourbon for Christmas

Thanks for the excellent additional input. I am working on gathering a little intelligence, but it is slow going and I may be left to my own devices. The last time we were together we shared some Evan Williams Single Barrel. Not sure what else was lurking in the cabinet. I think for the tasting the most important thing is to have a good contrast - that way he can explain the variations to the uninitiated in the family.

Re: Bourbon for Christmas

Re: Bourbon for Christmas

Thank you for such a thoughtful response. You have definitely given me some good ideas and seem to know exactly what I am looking for: wide array of tasting notes for reasonsble prices and one really good bottle for the b-i-l. This will definitely be the best shopping trip of the season for me!

Re: Bourbon for Christmas

Welcome Sis. Seattle may be a little far ,but you don't know , anything is possible with this group! I guess it would be cheaper for you to post your final selections and we can do a cyber tasting. That has happened a lot here! Provided we have something similiar , close at hand.